Bibliotek för alla?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Lisa Engström
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Policies ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Public Sphere

The Swedish Library Act states that “Library activities shall be available to everyone” and other policy documents in Sweden promote the public library as a place making information and culture accessible to all. The Library Acts of Denmark, Finland and Norway include similar statements, as well as the core values of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. However, the concept of accessibility is seldom defined or discussed. During recent years, the concept of participation is widely used in the context of accessibility in cultural policies, including policies related to public libraries. Even so, this concept also lacks a clear meaning. Accessibility and participation are closely related to democracy; by making information accessible and by enabling participation libraries are considered as promoters of democracy. Thus, when the meaning of accessibility and participation changes, the understanding of democracy is affected. In this article, I explore the meaning of the concepts accessibility and participation in Swedish library policies. Eleven library policies are analyzed utilizing Arnsteins “ladder of participation” and Fraser’s critique of Habermas notion of the public sphere. The article also discusses how the notion of democracy is affected by the different meanings accessibility and participation hold in the respective policies.

Public librarians' perception of their professional role and the library's role in supporting the public sphere: a multi-country comparison

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Johnston ◽  
Ágústa Pálsdóttir ◽  
Anna Mierzecka ◽  
Ragnar Andreas Audunson ◽  
Hans-Christoph Hobohm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
The Public Sphere

PurposeThe overarching aim of this article is to consider to what extent the perceptions of librarians in Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Sweden reflect a unified view of their professional role and the role of their institutions in supporting the formation of the public sphere and to what extent the variations reflect national contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe multi-country comparison is based on online questionnaires. The central research questions are how do librarians legitimize the use of public resources to uphold a public library service? How do librarians perceive the role of public libraries as public spaces? How do librarians perceive their professional role and the competencies needed for it? Consideration is given to how the digital and social turns are reflected in the responses.FindingsThe results show evidence of a unified professional culture with clear influences from national contexts. A key finding is that librarians see giving access as central for both legitimizing library services and for the library's role as a public sphere institution. Strong support is shown for the social turn in supporting the formation of the public sphere while the digital turn appears to be a future challenge; one of seemingly increased importance due to the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that libraries across the seven countries have expanded beyond simply providing public access to their book-based collections and now serve as social, learning and creative spaces: both in the physical library and digitally. Qualitative research is needed concerning librarians' notions of public libraries and librarianship, which will provide a more in-depth understanding of the changing professional responsibilities and how public libraries recruit the associated competencies.Originality/valueThe article provides a much needed insight into how librarians perceive the role of public libraries in supporting the formation of the public sphere and democratic processes, as well as their own role.

Conceptual modelling of the public sphere in public libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Widdersheim ◽  
Masanori Koizumi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct a conceptual model of the public sphere in public libraries. Various international authors over the past 20 years have associated the public sphere with public libraries, but these associations have yet to be clarified and synthesized in a comprehensive way. Design/methodology/approach – This study used qualitative content analysis to identify the dimensions of the public sphere in public libraries. The study’s scope included annual reports from an urban US public library system from 1900 to 2010. Findings – Six dimensions of the public sphere in public libraries are described with examples. The dimensions are: core criteria; internal public sphere; external public sphere; collect and organize discourse; perform legitimation processes; and facilitate discourse. Three of these dimensions are newly identified. The six total dimensions are synthesized into a comprehensive conceptual model with three discourse arenas: governance and management; legitimation; and commons. Originality/value – This study is distinctive because it used a data-based, empirical approach to public libraries to an abstract sociological concept. Three dimensions of the model are new to library studies literature and therefore represent new potential areas of inquiry. The resulting conceptual model is useful for both practitioners and researchers in the public library sector. Further, the model contributes to existing social and political theory.

Surpassing the business model: a public sphere approach to public library management

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 404-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masanori Koizumi ◽  
Michael M. Widdersheim
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Shared Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Library Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Public Library Management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the characteristics of the public sphere with those of a shared value approach and better understand the value that public libraries can offer to management theory. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses two methods. First, this study uses a systematic literature review to identify sources relevant to shared value and the public sphere in public libraries. Next, this study uses comparative theoretical analysis using data gathered from the systematic review to analyse the two theories. Findings This study successfully describes the similarities and differences between “shared value” and the “public sphere in public libraries”. Originality/value This study elucidates public library innovation from the perspectives of library management and the public sphere concept.

Governance, Legitimation, Commons: A Public Sphere Framework and Research Agenda for the Public Library Sector

Libri ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Widdersheim
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Social Value ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sphere Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Tentative Model ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractPublic libraries continually struggle to define their social value, and economic or educational rationales are commonly submitted to this end. In contrast to these approaches, public sphere theory emphasizes the political and social justice aspects of public libraries. Existing library literature has established strong associations between public sphere theory and public libraries, and a tentative model of the public sphere in public libraries has been developed. It is not yet clear, however, how a public sphere model of public libraries might benefit the profession. This paper therefore explains how a conceptual model of the public sphere in public libraries can serve as a potential framework and research agenda for the public library sector. A model of the public sphere in public libraries contains three main arenas of discourse: governance, legitimation, and commons. Each of the arenas represents values that are central to public librarianship. Practitioners and scholars in the public library sector can use the public sphere model to orient research and practice. This paper explains each arena in detail and discusses the model’s relevance as a philosophy and research agenda.

scholarly journals The public sphere and Habermas: reflections on the current state of theory in public library research

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-258
Author(s):  
Håkon Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
Library Research ◽  
The Public Sphere

PurposeThis article addresses a recent debate in this journal between Buschman and Widdersheim and Koizumi on public libraries and public sphere theory in library and information science (LIS). The article moves beyond the debate as the debate has been too focused on the theories of Jürgen Habermas. In order to really understand the democratic mission of public libraries and how it is related to the public sphere, the author argues that LIS scholars need to look beyond Habermas' theories of the public sphere.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical article that discusses different theories of the public sphere, and how they have been and can be applied in library and information science.FindingsThe author finds that a main disagreement between Buschman and Widdersheim and Koizumi is whether one can use the concept of a public sphere without doing it in a “traditional” Habermasian way. The answers put forward in this article, is that we can and should look beyond Habermas' work when seeking to understand the role of public libraries as public spheres.Originality/valueThe article puts forward theories that are not commonly used in LIS, and advocates for broadening the theoretical scope of LIS scholars studying the relations between public libraries and public spheres.

scholarly journals Public libraries as an infrastructure for a sustainable public sphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnar Audunson ◽  
Svanhild Aabø ◽  
Roger Blomgren ◽  
Sunniva Evjen ◽  
Henrik Jochumsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital World

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the shaping of public libraries as an infrastructure for a sustainable public sphere through a comprehensive literature review. Design/methodology/approach In order to capture the whole picture of this research field, we utilize comprehensive review methodology. The major research questions are: first, to what extent have research topics regarding libraries as public sphere institutions expanded and diversified? Which theoretical perspectives inform research? Second, which challenges and topics does the research focus upon, such as: social inclusion and equal access to information; digital inequalities; censorship and freedom of expression; and access to places and spaces with a democratic potential and the role of libraries in that respect? Third, what influence has social media exerted on libraries in the context of the expanding digital world? Findings The authors identified mainly four themes regarding the public library and public sphere, such as: the importance of public libraries by using Habermas’s theory; the function of meeting places within the public library and setting those places in the center of the library in order to enhance and encourage democracy; the relationship between social inclusion and public libraries and its functions in current society such as diminishing the digital divide; and the emerging electronic resources and arena of SNS in public libraries and utilizing them to reach citizens. Originality/value Capturing the recent history of this research field through comprehensive review is valuable.

The Transnationalization of Public Spheres and Global Policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-256
Author(s):  
Ingrid Volkmer
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Core ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Container Model

The globalized spheres of digital communication require a substantial revision of conventional conceptions of ‘the public sphere’. This article lays out the core strands of such a new debate by identifying the limitations of traditional public sphere approaches which are caused by the boundedness of the foci on the national ‘container’ model associated with the European nation state. Instead of limiting publicness to national boundaries, new approaches are required to understand the new discursive spheres of connectivity of citizens across all society types, today enabled by digital communication. Such an approach is necessary to map out the new dimension of public discourse. The article concludes with the suggestion of a model of publicness understood as ‘reflective interdependence’ connecting citizens across societies.

scholarly journals Routes and relations in Scandinavian interfaith forums: Governance of religious diversity by states and majority churches

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Paulsen Galal ◽  
Louise Lund Liebmann ◽  
Magdalena Nordin
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Public ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Unique Aspect ◽  
Interreligious Relations ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
State Relations

In the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as elsewhere in Europe, governance of religious diversity has become a matter of renewed concern. A unique aspect of the Scandinavian situation is the hegemonic status of the respective Lutheran Protestant majority churches, usually referred to as ‘folk churches’, with which the majority of the population associates, alongside a prevalence of high degrees of regional secularism. As such, the majority churches have played a key role as both instigators and organisers of several interfaith initiatives, and have thereby come to interact with the public sphere as providers of diversity governance. Based on country-level studies of policy documents on majority-church/interreligious relations and field studies, this article sets out to explore the prompting and configuration of majority-church-related interfaith initiatives concerning church–state relations and the governance of religious diversity.

scholarly journals Supporting immigrants’ political integration through discussion and debate in public libraries

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Johnston ◽  
Ragnar Audunson
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Political Integration ◽  
The Public ◽  
University College ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Public Sphere

Using Habermas’ theory of the public sphere, this article examines the potential of conversation-based programming (e.g. conversation groups and language cafes) in public libraries to bring immigrant voices into the public sphere and thereby to facilitate their political integration. To both support and illustrate the theoretical explorations of the article, research findings are presented from a study on language cafes and integration at Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway. Four ways in which the language cafes can support immigrants’ political integration and the formation of a comprehensive public sphere include the fostering of linguistic competence, expansion of social networks, promotion of information exchange relevant to political integration, and facilitation of ‘messy conversation’.

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